Barberhood: The Essential Network

Bar•ber•hood 

/ˈbärBər. ho͝od/

noun

1. an association, society, and community of people linked by a common interest; barbering. 

We look down, head bowed in shame revealing a crooked line-up and a chunk of hair missing from our crown. We’ve butchered our role as the ultimate home barber extraordinaire. Moms is yelling and pops has called his friend up the street to come document the incident. We’re embarrassed; we can’t call our friends, we want to keep it as quiet as possible. Someone’s booked an appointment for the next day. The shop is welcoming; old heads roast us for the entirety of our stay. We realize they’re laughing in memory; they’ve also chopped and screwed their own canvas- the barber cutting your hair nods in agreement. We’ve all been there, their words echo: it happens all the time. You leave the shop feeling on top of the world; you carry this moment in your story archives, anticipating the day you’ll share it with one of  your own clients. 

Barberhood, at its core, is the shared narrative of living and learning together; taking the love of cutting hair and building a community out of this passion. We often talk about building our network as barbers learning how to expand our business, perfecting new cutting techniques, the list is comprehensive and continually growing.  We don’t often examine how building a network within our community is critical to our success. Building lasting connections in the industry allows us to plot our own success story by allowing others to provide valuable input. As we secure a community of support, we acknowledge that we need each other to move forward, that our individual success is symptomatic of our commitment to uplifting others who are striving for the same thing.

Barberhood allows us to forge our own paths by acknowledging the steps of others. It helps us expand our personal business as we learn from each other and constantly reach back into the system for support; to seek guidance; or challenge our own growth. Barberhood, in it's purest form, is realizing the connectedness of the movement and seeking to add your narrative to a growing collective of shared stories. It is also the why we continue to press on in this field; it is why we highlight former barbers and barbering communities when we tell our own stories. It is why we look forward to sharing our experience with the generations after us. We want to build a lasting community; we want to keep the magic that we experienced as children alive. 

We don't heal in isolation, but in community.”
― S. Kelley Harrell

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